Arrange the different kinds of social change in chronological order, starting from the oldest to the most recent:
A. Modernisation.
B. Secularisation
C. Westernisation
D. Sanskritisation.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → D, C, A, B
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, there is nothing in the NCERT book that fixes the chronological sequence of these four processes. The book says only that sanskritisation pre-dates the coming of colonial rule, which places it first; it treats westernisation, modernisation and secularisation (items C, A and B) together as responses to colonialism, so their order is reasoning, not a statement of the book, as explained below.
(D) Sanskritisation — the oldest: sanskritisation pre-dates the coming of colonial rule. It is the process by which a caste tries to raise its status by adopting the practices of castes of higher status.
(C) Westernisation — M. N. Srinivas defines it as the changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule; it began with colonialism.
(A) Modernisation — like westernisation, a response to the changes that colonialism brought about; from the 19th and more so the 20th century, the term came to be associated with positive and desirable values.
(B) Secularisation — discussed together with modernisation; in the modern west it has usually meant a process of decline in the influence of religion.
NCERT (2025-26): “This chapter looks at two related developments, both a complex product of the impact of colonial rule. The first deals with the deliberate and conscious efforts made by the 19th century social reformers and early 20th century nationalists to bring in changes in social practices that discriminated against women and ‘lower’ castes. The second with the less deliberate yet decisive changes in cultural practices that can broadly be understood as the four processes of sanskritisation, modernisation, secularisation and westernisation. Sanskritisation pre-dates the coming of colonial rule. The other three processes can be understood better as complex responses of the people of India to the changes that colonialism brought about.” |